Duterte has withdrawn The Philippines from the International Criminal Court

Elected officials – from City Mayors to Senators – have been arrested on trumped-up drug-dealing charges – including human-rights advocate Senator Leila de Lima, a Duterte foe since exposing his illegal Death-Squads when he was Mayor of Davao, in Mindanao.

But….
Duterte is still generally popular. It
is true that streets are cleaner and safer, new consumer and safety laws are coming
in, and there is anecdotal evidence that the endemic corruption of the country is
being addressed. However, Duterte’s
opponents are frightened to speak out for fear of arrest on fake drug-dealing
charges. There is increasing talk of
Dictatorship.

The UK Trade
Minister has praised the “shared values
and shared interests” between UK and Philippines, contradicting our
Government’s objectives to promote democracy and human rights.

The Philippines is the focus country of Canterbury
Amnesty Group

We are campaigning for the release of Senator de Lima

Join us!

PHILIPPINES NEWS:

12/04/19

On The President’s Orders

The searing story of President Duterte’s bloody campaign against drug dealers and addicts in the Philippines, told with unprecedented and intimate access to both sides of the war – the Manila police, and an ordinary family from the slum.

Shot in the style of a thriller, this observational film combines the look and feel of a narrative feature film with a real life revelatory journalistic investigation into a campaign of killings.

The film uncovers a murky world where crime, drugs and politics meet in a deathly embrace – and reveal that although the police have been publicly ordered to stop extra-judicial killings, the deaths continue.

On 17 March 2019, President Duterte’s threat to withdraw from the ICC (International criminal Court) takes effect, in a cynical attempt to evade international justice and halt the ICC’s work.

In February 2018, the ICC launched a preliminary examination of
the crimes allegedly committed by the Philippine government in the context of
the ‘war on drugs.’ The following month Duterte announced that the Philippines
would withdraw from the Court.

However, this withdrawal has no effect on on-going proceedings. Amnesty’s Regional Director says, “The
Philippines’ withdrawal won’t change the fact that those responsible for crimes
under international law committed during the Duterte administration’s bloody
anti-drugs campaign will be held to account – at the ICC or through other
international justice initiatives.

“Filipinos bravely challenging the ‘war on drugs’ or seeking
justice for their loved ones need international support to help them end this
climate of fear, violence and impunity. States at the UN Human Rights Council must launch an
independent, international investigation into the human rights situation in the
Philippines, including the thousands of extrajudicial killings still being
committed. President Duterte says the ‘war on drugs’ will last at least until
his term ends in 2022, if not beyond. It must stop immediately and the
government must adopt an approach to drugs based on a policy of health and
human rights.”